Lee Child - Never Go Back

‘Even after I busted myself out of jail?’

‘I think so.’

‘So she’s an idealist?’

‘Get it while you can. It won’t last. It didn’t with Major Sullivan.’

Reacher asked, ‘Is the FBI involved yet?’

Leach said, ‘They’ve been notified.’

‘Who is organizing the army’s efforts?’

‘The 75th MP. A team led by Warrant Officer Espin. Who you met. He was the one who brought you to Dyer. People say he’s taking it personally. He claims you abused his good nature. He claims he did you a favour, and thereby inadvertently set the whole thing in motion.’

‘What did he do for me?’

‘He kept you at Dyer. Detective Podolski wanted to take you downtown. Espin said no. And then on top of that, you asked him to go get the MP duty captain right away, which he did, which he’s counting as another favour exploited.’

‘The duty captain would have come anyway.’

‘But not so quickly. And your whole plan depended on getting everything done before late afternoon. So you had to start early. Which Espin feels he accidentally facilitated.’

‘Is he getting anywhere?’

‘Not so far. But not through lack of trying.’

‘Can you get a message to him?’

‘Probably.’

‘Tell him to get over himself. Ask him what he would have done in our situation.’

‘I will, sir. If I can.’

‘What’s your name, sergeant?’

‘Sir, it’s Leach.’

‘No, your first name.’

‘Sir, it’s Chris.’

‘As in Christine or Christina or something?’

‘Just Chris, sir. That’s what’s on my birth certificate.’

‘Well, Chris, if I was still CO of the 110th, I’d move heaven and earth to keep you there. That unit has had its share of great NCOs, and you’re right up there with the best of them.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘No, thank you , sergeant.’

Leach left after that, in a hurry, facing a four-hour drive back, followed by a full day at the office. Reacher looked at Turner and said, ‘You must be a hell of a good commander, to inspire loyalty like that.’

‘No more than you were,’ she said. ‘You had Frances Neagley.’

‘You been reading her file too?’

‘I’ve been reading all the files. All the operational histories, too. I wanted to know the 110th inside out.’

‘Like I said, you’re a great commander.’ Reacher flattened the page from the legal pad against the top of the hotel desk, and he smoothed one of the torn halves of the scratch pad paper next to it. Then he picked up the phone and dialled Captain Tracy Edmonds’ private cell number.

FORTY-TWO

THERE WAS A lot of ring tone, but Reacher expected that. Cell networks can take eight seconds to route a call. And very few sleepers jump up like the movies. Most people wake up slow, and then blink and fumble.

But Edmonds answered eventually. She said, ‘Hello?’ Her tone was a little anxious, and the sound of her voice was a little plummy, as if her tongue was thick, or her mouth was full.

Reacher said, ‘Captain Edmonds?’

‘Who is this?’

‘Your client, Jack Reacher. Major, United States Army. Recently recommissioned. Currently manoeuvring with the 110th MP. Are you alone?’

‘What kind of a question is that?’

‘We’re about to have a privileged conversation, counsellor. We have legal matters to discuss.’

‘You’re damn right we do.’

‘Calm down, captain.’

‘You broke out of jail.’

‘That’s not allowed any more?’

‘We have to talk.’

‘We are talking.’

‘Really talk, I mean.’

‘Are you alone?’

‘Yes, I’m alone. So what?’

‘Got a pen?’

She paused a beat. ‘Now I have.’

‘Paper?’

‘Got it.’

‘OK, pay attention. To better mount an adequate defence, I need hard copies of everything anyone has on a citizen of Afghanistan known to us only as A.M. 3435.’

‘That’s probably secret.’

‘I’m entitled to due process. Courts take that shit very seriously.’

‘Whatever, it’s a big ask.’

‘Fair’s fair. They have their bullshit with the affidavit.’

‘Reacher, I’m representing you in a paternity suit. Not the Juan Rodriguez thing. That’s Major Sullivan. And to get hard copies of military intelligence out of Afghanistan would be huge even in a criminal case. You won’t get it in a paternity suit. I mean, why would you?’

Reacher said, ‘You told me the Uniform Code of Military Justice still lists adultery as a crime. What’s the penalty?’

‘Potentially substantial.’

‘So it’s not just a paternity suit. It’s a criminal case too.’

‘That’s tenuous.’

‘They can’t have it both ways, counsellor. They mentioned adultery as a crime. Either that means something or it doesn’t.’

‘Reacher, we have to talk.’

‘Is this where you tell me coming in from the cold would be the best thing to do?’

‘It would be.’

‘Perhaps. But I’ve chosen Plan B anyway. So I need that information.’

‘But how does it relate? Afghanistan hadn’t even started when you were in Korea. Or when you saw the Big Dog.’

Reacher said nothing.

Edmonds said, ‘Oh.’

‘Correct,’ Reacher said. ‘You’re pretty quick, for a lawyer. This is about Major Turner, not me. Or maybe it’s about Major Turner and me, because what we’ve got here is someone laying down a challenge to two COs of the 110th Special Unit. Which means there are going to be winners and losers, and the smart money says you need to be with the winners, because being on the right side of history brings bounty beyond imagining, in this man’s army.’

‘Are you going to be the winners?’

‘Count on it. We’re going to beat them like rented mules. And we need to, captain. They killed two of our own in Afghanistan. And beat one of your colleagues half to death.’

Edmonds said, ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

Turner was still in her robe, and she was showing no signs of going back to bed. Reacher asked her, ‘What was in the envelope?’

‘The other thing I asked Sergeant Leach for.’

‘Evidently. But what was it?’

‘We’re going to Los Angeles next.’

‘Are we?’

She nodded. ‘You need to take care of the Samantha situation.’

‘I’ll get to it.’

‘Worst case, we’re going to fail here, and they’re going to lock us up and throw away the key. I can’t let that happen to you. Not before you’ve met your daughter. You’d think about nothing else, for the rest of your life. So you can put my problem on the back burner for a spell, and you can move yours to the front.’

‘When did you make this plan?’

‘Some time ago. As I was entitled to. You’re in my unit, apparently. Therefore I’m your CO. We’re going to Los Angeles next.’

‘What was in the envelope?’

She answered by spilling the contents on the bed.

Two credit cards.

And two driver’s licences.

She paired them up and kept one of each for herself, and she passed the others to Reacher. A New York State driver’s licence, and a Visa credit card. The licence was made out to a guy named Michael Dennis Kehoe, forty-five years old, at a Queens address. Male, blue eyes, height six-six. He was an organ donor. The picture showed a square face and a wide neck. The Visa card was in the same name, Michael D. Kehoe.

Reacher said, ‘Are they real?’

‘Mine are.’

‘And mine aren’t?’

‘They’re kind of real. They’re from the undercover locker.’

Reacher nodded. The 110th sent people undercover all the time. They needed documents. The government supplied them, authentic in every way, except for never having been issued to an actual person.